The McFaddin-Ward House

Historic House Museum in Beaumont, Texas

Shining Examples: Silver from the McFaddin-Ward House Collection

Mamie McFaddin’s portrait inside an Art Nouveau frame by Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. Wallingford, CT, ca. 1890

Now on display in the Visitor Center is the exhibit “Shining Examples: Silver from the McFaddin-Ward House Collection.”  In the tall case are featured coffee pots, pitchers, and tumblers.  Specialized pieces for gracefully serving fish, toast, cheese, bone marrow and even the South American drink, yerba mate. Silver is both beautiful and practical once combined with just enough of another metal alloy to increase its durability.  It made possible the creation of items like: a table crumber of intricate design, a ruler bedecked with flowers, and even a frame with Art Nouveau styled poppies.  Also included, is a well-worn silver-plated spoon that is no longer symmetrical.  We can only wonder if it was used by a cook to scrape the bottom of a cooking pan, or was used as everyday favorite, sparing the sterling pieces from ware. Also on display are two examples of 20th century place settings. Viewers can appreciate the ornate style of the repoussé “Baltimore Rose” pattern by the Heer-Schofield Co. and contrast it against the elegant colonial-revival simplicity of the “Mary Chilton” pattern by Towle Manufacturing Co.  

Pretty in Pink

Did you know society has not always associated the color pink with femininity? In 1918, the clothing company Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department rules that pink favors boys, because it descends from the strong and aggressive symbolism of red. As time progresses, however, color assignment lacks unanimity, with different regions advertising pink for both girls and boys.

Thus, pink would have been a suitable choice for the fashion-conscious McFaddin women, and perhaps we can view their extensive collection of pink as a reminder to their strong will and leadership. As refined hostesses, avid civil servants, and socially active women of the 20th century, Mamie and her mother, Ida, acquired an array of mementos that proved functional and pretty in pink.

The new display in the Visitor Center features pink objects from the McFaddin-Ward House Collection, hailing from countries like Italy, England, France, and China.  Catch a glimpse of the charm and regality of the McFaddin women through Summer 2019.

Free Tours Announced

Junior Interpreters to Host Tours on June 30th

On Saturday, June 30, newly trained Junior Interpreters, along with veteran “J.I.s”, will give free tours of the McFaddin-Ward House and carriage house. Junior Interpreters are older teenagers who are fully trained docents. Junior Interpreter Day allows the new guides to become more proficient at interacting with guests of the museum. Beginning at 10 a.m., the group will be giving free tours to anyone who walks through the door, although it is best to secure a reservation. The teens will take a lunch break from 12 to 1 p.m. and begin afternoon tours after they eat. The last tour will start at 3:00. Feel free to drop by the museum or best, make your reservation today. J.I. Day is very popular with the public. The museum sees more than 100 people come for these free days.

All the China

The McFaddin-Ward China Collection

The McFaddin women adored china. Mamie McFaddin Ward and her mother Ida owned some thirty-six sets! Not all were dinnerware, however. They included breakfast, tea, and dessert sets too, and they happily used them all.

New exhibits featuring ceramics from the McFaddin-Ward House Collection are now on display at the Visitor Center.

The exhibits are of select Dresden and fine china and dinnerware.  The pieces originate from factories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the USA. This is a rare chance to see a large sample of plates all at once.  The exhibit will be on display through Summer 2018.

Sign Up for Etiquette Class Today!

Manners Matter Etiquette Class

If you don’t think minding your manners is important these days, think again! The McFaddins were well known for their hospitality, graciousness, and the way they conducted themselves in public. The good news is, you don’t have to be a McFaddin to know good etiquette. In this class, we’ll teach you proper table conversation and manners, introductions, and how to dress to impress. Having these skills will help you go far!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Visitor Center at 1906 Calder in Beaumont

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Ages: 10 – 14

Cost $25 per person (cash or check only)

Registration deadline is Thursday, July 6

Download and print the registration form below. Return with payment by mail or in person to

McFaddin-Ward House Offices

725 N. Third St.

Beaumont, TX 77701

For more information, call 832-1906 of email: srostrom@mcfaddin-ward.org

Etiquette Registration Form

 

2017 Summer Camp Registration Begins TODAY

Thoroughly Modern McFaddins

Our summer camp for kids is back this year July 25th-27th. This year’s theme centers around the “latest” technology available to the McFaddins after they moved into their home in 1905.

Join us as we learn about the “modern” conveniences of cooking on a wood stove, riding a horse and buggy, keeping cool without air-conditioning, and more!

The details:
–Campers must be between the ages of 8 and 12.
–Camp is Tuesday, July 25th, Wednesday, July 26th, and Thursday, July 27th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
–Campers must bring their own lunch each day.
–Registration fees are $20 per camper (cash or check only).
–Registration is limited to 24 campers.

This camp is popular and fills up fast!

BOTH of these forms must be completed and returned by mail or in person to our business office at 725 N. Third Street, Beaumont, TX 77701. We are open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Online registration is not available. Cash or check only please.

Download BOTH forms here:

2017 Registration Form

Permission Form

For questions or more information, please call (409) 832-1906 or email srostrom@mcfaddin-ward.org.

McFaddin-Ward House Rolls Out New Season

The McFaddin-Ward House doesn’t mess around when it comes to funky ideas for its Lecture Series. The 2017 Season includes programs with subjects ranging from bad art to antique guns.

“We like to keep our programs fresh and exciting for the public,” says museum director, Allen Lea. “Once we conceive the idea of what might be interesting, we go for the best person in that field; at least, the best we can afford.”

Outreach to those who might never visit a museum is part of the McFaddin-Ward House education strategy. “Many people only think museums are boring. We want them to leave here having a nice dose of art, history, culture, or liturature and not even realize it!” says Lea.

This will be the second year the McFaddin-Ward House has offered its extensive lecture program, one almost every month of the year. The lectures are always free with an occasional reception that follows.

If this year’s Lecture Series has a theme, it is probably “how weird can one museum be?” No doubt, you will see some doozies at the McFaddin-Ward House. The Museum of Bad Art Art, for example, boasts a provocative collection called “art so bad it shouldn’t be ignored”. Or how about The Purse Museum? Some will collect anything that appeals to a few who represent almost nobody.

At least one lecture is sure to grab your attention this year, so check our website and facebook page often and sign up for our mailings.

The McFaddin-Ward House 2017 Lecture Series (to date)

January 12 – Coastal Cowboys and Cattle Trails: They Pointed Them East First

February 9 – The Museum of Bad Art: Art Too Bad to Be Ignored

March 9 – From Page to Stage: An Evening with Jamie Brickhouse, novelist

April 13 – The Purse Museum: Women. History. Purses. Art.

May 11 – The Bryan Museum : The West as it Will  Never be Seen Again

June 8 – The Mutter Museum: Modifying the Body

September 14 – Photographer Jack Knox: Ghost Towns, Gas Stations, and a 20 foot Cowboy 

*October 18 – Life in a Jar: the Irena Sendler Project

November 9 – NRA Gun Museum

*tentative date

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggnog Evening and Open House Unite

The McFaddin-Ward House is combining two of its most popular events: Eggnog Evening and Open House. For years, the historic house museum has held the two events on separtate days, but

McFaddin-Ward House Features Film Documentary

The Pastel Poet Rides of the Texas Plains Rides Again

The McFaddin-Ward House takes its 2016 Lecture Series on the road this month with a film documentary about forgotten artist Frank Reaugh. Experts consider Reaugh (prounounced Ray) to be one of Western art’s most prolific; his works number more than 7,000, yet when he died, most people had never heard of him. The Texas art scene has recently renewed its interest in Reaugh, largely due to a recent film documentary about his life and works. “Frank Reaugh: Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains” pays tribute to a great artist and teacher. Its producer, Marla Fields, will be on hand August 18th to discuss her film at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. The McFaddin-Ward House is proud to be sharing the event at the larger venue.

“We anticipate a large crowd for this particular lecture,” McFaddin-Ward House Museum Director, Allen Lea said. “The Art Museum is lovely and will create the perfect atmosphere for this wonderful screening.”

An Artist Unknown

Frank Reaugh produced thousands of vivid pastels of the Texas Plains. Unlike other painters, though, he focused on animals rather than cowboys. Each summer he would bring a group of students on “Sketch Trips” to far west Texas and teach them his methods. Many call him the “Dean of Texas Painters”.

“What’s remarkable about Frank Reaugh is that very few of us knew what’s remarkable about him,” critic and novelist Michael Ennis remarks in Fields’ documentary. Now, we’re beginning to, again.

He was still working into his late 70s, but by then the art world had passed him by.

“People forgot him before he was ever done painting,” art collector Bill Cheek said.

How could artists forget someone so talented, creative and giving? That’s what filmmaker Fields wanted to know after reading an article about him. “In his final days he became a ward of the city, and that just struck me,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe he wasn’t more well-known.”

A former radio DJ in Temple and Paris (Texas) and now a freelance video producer living in Frisco, she set out to learn all she could about him. Her superb documentary, five years in the making, reintroduces Reaugh to art lovers and to his fellow Texans.

Learn more at http://marlfields.com/frandreaugh

Glitter and Gleam: Selections from our Reserve Collection

Current Visitor Center Exhibit

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Ida Caldwell McFaddin and her daughter Mamie McFaddin-Ward inherited certain fashion accessories, but they also followed the trends of their respective times. Clothing and accessories from 1880 to 1919 are shown in the exhibit as well as those from 1920 to 1959. Though made of various precious materials, all are shining examples of jewelry from the turn of the 20th Century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Odom Academy Visits Museum

Kids on PorchLense focusColor my worldHat thangFritz n kidsLemonsHats off to youShow and tellButlers Pantry

More than 250 Odom Academy students descended
by the busloads on the McFaddin-Ward House this month. The middle schoolers were here for an annual visit and a Texas History lesson on the early 1900’s. The morning included a stage play about a day in the life of the McFaddins, tours of the house, an art lesson, and several docent-led demonstrations of the family kitchen, house chores, Mamie’s school room, and childhood games. Close to 30 docents and staff were on hand to host the event which covered a three-day period.

Antiques Road Show Expert to Speak Here

If you love antiques at the McFaddin-Ward House, chances are you’ve heard of Antiques Road Show. Items in our collection would be dream-finds on the popular PBS Series where Average Joes and Janes rustle up antiques and collectibles for a televised appraisal. From garage sales to grandpa’s attic, it’s an array of everything from the beautiful to unusual. Sometimes, they hit it big.

One popular appraiser on the show is David Lackey, a Houston antique and art dealer, collector, and expert. In addition to creating his own art, Mr. Lackey owns an antique store in Houston. The McFaddin-Ward House has invited Lackey to speak at a free lecture in May.

David Lackey “grew up” in the antique business so-to-speak. On his sixth birthday, someone gave little David an antique penny bank in the shape of a house. This simple gift ignited David’s passion for collecting old objects, and he began to shop with his parents at flea-markets and garage sales. By the age of 12, he was selling at weekend antiques fairs and to other dealers who appreciated his keen eye for quality items.

After graduating from Baylor University, David worked as a buyer for Foley’s Department Store, although he continued to sell collectibles on weekends. He sold china and crystal he’d bought at estate sales, and pretty soon, David became known as a local expert in ceramics and glass.

By 1983 David Lackey was dealing antiques on a full-time basis, but he longed to further his knowledge. Two years later, he liquidated his business and enrolled in an intensive year-long course at Christie’s Fine Arts in London. David returned to Houston in 1986 and re-opened his business which flourished.

Ten years later, along came Antiques Roadshow. In the first season, David was asked to appraise pottery and porcelain for a filming in San Antonio, Texas. His appraisal aired on the show and David was invited to other venues. Since 1998, David has appraised at every Antiques Roadshow filming and traveled to over 100 cities.

David Lackey’s lecture on Antiques, Porcelain, Pottery, and Glass will be held Thursday May 12th at the McFaddin-Ward Visitor Center, located at 1906 Calder in Beaumont. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. The lecture starts at 6:30. The lecture is free, but seating is limited to the first 90 people who arrive.

 

 

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